Whose freedom?

Ideas matter. Perhaps no idea has mattered more in American history
than the idea of freedom. The central thesis of this book is simple.
There are two very different views of freedom in America today, arising
from two very different moral and political worldviews dividing the
country. The traditional idea of freedom is progressive. One can see
traditional values most clearly in the direction of change that has
been demanded and applauded over two centuries. America has been a
nation of activists, consistently expanding its most treasured freedoms:

The expansion of citizen participation and voting rights from white
male property owners to non-property owners, to former slaves, to
women, to those excluded by prejudice, to younger voters

The expansion of opportunity, good jobs, better working conditions,
and benefits to more and more Americans, from men to women, from white
to nonwhite, from native born to foreign born, from English speaking to
non-English speaking

The expansion of worker rightsÑfreedom from inhumane working
conditions–through unionization: from slave labor to the eight-hour
day, the five-day week, worker compensation, sick leave, overtime pay,
paid vacations, pregnancy leave, and so on

The expansion of public education from grade school to high school to college to postgraduate education

The expansion of knowledge through science from isolated figures
like Benjamin Franklin to scientific institutions in the great
universities and governmental institutions like the National Science
Foundation and the National Institutes of Health

The expansion of public health and life expectancy

The expansion of consumer protection through more effective
government regulation of immoral or irresponsible corporations and
class action suits within the civil justice system

The expansion of diverse media and free speech from small newspapers to the vast media/Internet possibilities of today

The expansion of access to capital from wealthy landholders and
bankers to all the ways ordinary people–more and more of them–can
borrow money today

The expansion, throughout the world, of freedom from colonial rule–
for the most part with the backing of American foreign policy.